Kate’s Kitchen in the Lower Haight enters a new era, with a new chef and evening endeavor, Chaparral

Kate's Kitchen in the Lower Haight enters a new era, with a new chef and evening endeavor, Chaparral

Kate’s Kitchen. Photo: Frederic Larson/The Chronicle

Beloved Lower Haight greasy spoon Kate’s Kitchen has a new partner, and the restaurant will get some evening action later this fall as a new restaurant named Chaparral.

Thomas Martinez, the 28-year-old former executive chef of Mission Beach Cafe, has struck a deal to become partners with the current owner of Kate’s Kitchen. Regulars of Kate’s Kitchen needn’t worry, says Martinez, because daytime service will remain largely the same. Though he might throw a few specials on the breakfast menu here and there, Martinez hearkens back to the mindset that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

What will change, however, is the evening service at Kate’s — which is currently non-existent. Martinez plans to open the restaurant on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (to start, at least) as an entirely new concept named Chaparral.

“I’m going to do cuisine based off what I was brought up doing in San Francisco,” Martinez says, adding the standard farmers’ market, sustainable meat descriptors, also adding that he hopes to have a “modernist twist” to the menu.

He also plans to offer late night specials — like a burger and fries, with a glass or wine or beer — after 11:30pm. He says many of his industry friends head back to the Avenues late night after dinner service and he hopes to give them a place to stop on their way home. Eventually, he hopes to institute a guest chef schedule as well, though he’ll adjust accordingly to demand and such.

For a young chef like Martinez, it’s a way to be creative with his “own” place, without being indebted to investors (or having to find investors).

Chaparral is expected to launch in mid-October. With Martinez aboard, also look for aesthetic changes coming to the physical space. They’re going to invest some money in Kate’s, apply for a beer and wine license, make aesthetic changes to the facade and open up the kitchen.